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Between Folds / British Fish

A History of the Fishes of the British Islands by Jonathan Couch, F.L.S. Vol. IV; 1878

168 x 112 cm

2011

Amassed together, under a sky of words, are the watery depths of British fish. Forming a horizon against the black and white of text, their shimmering and translucent colours sit closely between the undulating currents of folds. Every fish from the book swims beneath the text, heads and bodies rippling through the pages in a dense array of bewitching colours from the deep. Silver washes through mustard yellow, orange and blue, making scales metallic with its shimmering breath. Unlike the usual glimpse of slippery bodies seen darting from the surface, here they are held still before us – frozen in the piercing stare of glassy round pupils, forever watching. Such fascination and abundance is surely cause for an exclamation, the surprise of discovery in what lies beneath.